Temptation / ?????????

St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts on every day of the year.

(1 Cor 3:18-23; Mt 13:36-43) “And they shall cast them (those who offend of do iniquity) into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth; then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” In this manner, evil and good, light and darkness will be divided. Now, during this life, they are commingled, as it was pleasing to the Lord to order things such that his creation would grow and become stronger in good through the struggle against evil. Evil is allowed to freely exist within us and to influence us from without, but it does not determine our actions. Rather, it tempts us. When tempted, we must not fall but fight. Gaining the victory, we are freed from one temptation, and move onward and upward to meet a new temptation, and thus it is until the end of our life. O, when will we understand the meaning of the evil which tempts us, so as to order our life in accordance with this understanding! Those who struggle are crowned, and in the end, pass on to another life, where there is no sorrow or sickness externally, and where internally, like God’s angels, they will be pure, without the defilement of tempting movements and thoughts. Thus we may be prepared for the festival of light and good, which will be revealed in all its glory in the last day of the world.